Dedication Service of Communion Drapes Bethel A.M.E. Church
Item
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Title
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Dedication Service of Communion Drapes Bethel A.M.E. Church
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Rights
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This work is not in copyright, but commercial uses of this digital representation are limited. For more information, contact Mother Bethel AME Church and see http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/
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Creator
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Mother Bethel
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Date
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January 6, 1952
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Description
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This ceremony documented a church dedication service at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal on January 6, 1952. Located on Rittenhouse Street in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, the program celebrated the consecration of new communion drapes. The service blended liturgy with community devotion, invoked the Trinity and called all generations to gather in unity.
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The event reflected the central role of women’s leadership, with Evangelist Alice M. Ragsdale as Mistress of Ceremonies and members of the Stewardess Boards in sponsorship. Evangelists, laywomen, and the Bethel Senior Choir guided the flow of worship through hymns, prayers, and offerings that showed how women anchored much of the church’s spiritual and organizational life.
A sermon by Rev. G. C. McCoy, a dedication by Rev. W. A. Flamer, and selections by the choir and soloist Miss Carrie Jackson rounded out the liturgy. The program closed with a poem on social progress and “the rise of woman in her place,” linking the service to broader mid-20th-century ideals of faith, equality, and renewal.
The ceremony stood as a historical marker of Black religious life, that captured how worship, music, and women’s leadership were woven together and fostered both sacred dedication and hope.
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Format
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Text
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Language
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eng
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Place
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Philadelphia, PA
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Contributor
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Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
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Identifier
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XVI. Scrapbook
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Subject
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African Methodist Episcopal Church
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Dedication services
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Leadership in women
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Leadership in minority women
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Liturgies
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Choral singing
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Date Created
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1952
